Shanghai Metro to directly connect with popular lake in Suzhou
Traveling to Suzhou will become an easier daily commute for Shanghai residents as a new subway line is taking shape to further connect the two cities.
The garden city in neighboring Jiangsu Province has released the names of stations for a new subway line of its Rail Transit to link up with Shanghai's Metro system.
Line S1 will connect with the Huaqiao Station, one of the termini of Shanghai's Metro Line 11, upon its completion by the end of 2023.
According to the plan published by the Suzhou government, the 41.25-kilometer Line S1 will start from Suzhou Industry Park in the east of downtown and go through Kunshan, a county-level city in Jiangsu, to reach Huaqiao in Kunshan.
Line S1 will have 28 stations, covering downtown Kunshan, its economic and technological development zone, the Huaqiao business zone as well the Yangcheng Lake, famous for its hairy crabs.
"The structure of the Huaqiao Station on Line S1 has been completed for the ensuing installation of electric equipment," said Xu Wanchun, a project manager.
The station has an underground level and two stories above the ground. A transit hall will be set up on the second floor for commuters of Shanghai Metro Line 11 and Suzhou Line S1, Xu noted.
The Kunshan section of Shanghai's Metro Line 11.
Line S1 will also intersect with Line 3 of the Suzhou Metro, which runs across Suzhou.
According to the blueprint, Line S1 will use Level-A trains, the biggest among the nation's four tiers of Metro carriers, with either four or six carriages and operating at a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour. Most of Shanghai's Metro trains have an average speed of 80 kph.
The current most common mode for Shanghai residents to get to downtown Suzhou is by high-speed or bullet trains or by road. It takes about half an hour to reach Suzhou from local railway stations.
"I'm looking forward to the grand opening of Line S1, which will save a large sum of money for me," said an office worker surnamed Guo, who lives in Nanxiang Town of Shanghai's suburban Jiading District and works on Kunshan Financial Street.
Every day, Guo takes Metro Line 11 to Huaqiao and rides a cab to reach to downtown Kunshan. The new line will offer a direct link to his workplace.
Currently, Suzhou has six subway lines – 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and extension of Line 4 – in operation, according to the Suzhou Rail Transit operator. In the longer term, Suzhou plans to build 15 Metro lines totaling 768 kilometers.
Shanghai's Metro Line 11, the city's only interprovincial subway line, has three stations – Huaqiao, Guangming Road and Zhaofeng Road – in Kunshan, which comes under the jurisdiction of Suzhou.
The under-construction Huaqiao Station of Suzhou's Line S1 and the Huaqiao Station of Shanghai's Metro Line 11.
